Tower of God: Sequence Strength

Chapter 35: Submerged Fish Hunt



"The submerged fish hunt?" Zarhan said, looking at Hansung with a raised brow.

Hansung nodded.

At the moment, all the regulars that had agreed to take the administrator's test were standing in a room. Hansung Yu and Lero ro stood in front of them, explaining the rules of the test.

"That's right. You have to hunt the submerged fish and catch them." Hansung spoke.

At that moment, Rak exclaimed, "Ha! Hunt some fish!? That's my speciality!"

Endorsi and Anaak also expressed their expertise, remembering all the training with the reel inventory.

Winston stood quietly, listening on to the explanation of the test.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you won't be the one hunting the fish." Hansung said, instantly making the regulars stop talking.

"That's the headers' job." He pointed behind him where a picture of a black seal like creature was kept. The creature had bright sea green eyes and a layer of fur on its neck of the same colour.

"That's the herd fish?"

"It's kind of cute!" As always, the reactions were variable.

"The name of this fish is the Goby Dolphin, also known as the chaser." Hansung explained. The picture behind him changed to now display a strange creature, eerily resembling an elongated jellyfish.

"At the center of this down hole is the queen of the goby dolphins. And beyond this hole, lies another hole filled with water.

"Below the deeper hole lies a small tunnel that connects the structure to underground waters. At 10 am, the water level rises, and at 5 pm, it drops due to changes in the tunnel water. Due to the structure's shape, we call it the wine glass." Hansung smiled.

"When the wine glass is full of water, the fish will gather here. That's when it's meal time for the queen. The goby dolphins can weave a net of shinsu in the water; and when the wine glass is full they will stand around in a circle that will start to narrow.

"Eventually, the net will reach the mouth of the queen and it will feed."

Winston spoke out, "That's how the goby dolphins hunt, but what's our role?"

Hansung nodded.

"What your role is, is to protect the Goby Dolphins?"

"Protect?" Shibisu asked.

"That's right. You need to protect the net until Bam and Rachel, who have become fishes can reach the queen."

"B-become fishes? What do you mean?" Bam's voice came with a stutter.

"When the test begins, you both will be placed in a shinsu bubble that will be placed in the big circle. When the herding begins, the bubble is designed to move along with the shinsu net weaved by the goby dolphins. Your goal is to reach the queen's mouth and come out through the other end. Don't worry, the bubble is especially made to withstand the digestive juices of the queen."

Winston raised his hand.

"Then what do we have to protect the dolphins from?" He asked.

Hansung grinned.

"The goby dolphins are not without their natural predators." The screen behind him changed again, now displaying a strange humanoid monster with a lizard like mouth. It stood around with a worm like organism orange in colour.

"The first is the Thief." He said. "It's real name is the Barnacle Goblin. They don't eat the dolphins but they steal the fish that the goby dolphins have herded. The worm that they grow can extend it's mouth freely. It can extend it's mouth through the shallow soil and scoop up water from the wine glass, bringing along the fish with it."

His eyes looked across the regulars.

"The thieves get the fish by cutting open their stomachs. If Bam and Rachel are caught by them, everyone will fail the test."

The screen changed again, now displaying a pig with dark brown fur on its body, stripped by lighter shades of brown.

"Amother enemy is the Dog. It's real name is the striped earth pig and it eats the Goby Dolphins. Because of that, it does not get along with the thieves."

The screen changed yet again, this time displaying a silhouette of a humanoid entity with a long tail behind it, and what looked to be a needle like appendage that it held in it's had like a

weapon.

"The Bull. It's a strange creature that dominates this ecosystem. It's named as so because of its ferocious nature and bad temper. Some time ago, some regulars ran into it by mistake and were all eaten." Hansung narrowed his eyes and smiled at the regulars.

"If the bull wakes up and decides to go on a hunt during the test... things will become very dangerous for you all." He said.

Winston nodded.

"Seems easy enough to understand." He smiled.

Hansung chuckled.

"Then, let the submerged fish hunt... begin!"

Winston walked through a cave like structure, the overhead rocks connecting down through gigantic pillars that held them up. One side of the cave structure was open to the outside, making the light filter through the air, dimly lighting up the entire area.

Winston held a rare expression of annoyance on his face.

Amon had been assigned with Hatz to keep an eye on the Barnacle Goblins. While Zarhan was with the other spear bearers, stationed up top in order to impale the worms when given the

signal.

Khun was in his lighthouse overlooking the entire test, while Shibisu was stationed in another part of the cave, on the lookout for both the Thieves and the Bull.

As for him... Well...

"Shut up you freaky eyes!"

"Who are you calling freaky eyes?! You vertically compromised jerk!"

He was stationed with Anaak and Endorsi Jahad, the two Princesses of Jahad and standing in station for the possible invasion of the Bull into the wine glass.

He looked back to see them still arguing. Among the two, Endorsi seemed to be the better one at insults. The only thing Anaak had on her was the fact that Endorsi was easily riled up by comments on her appearance. Though Endorsi was also not too great at throwing insults. She was just better than Anaak, which wasn't too high of a wall to cross.

"Would you two shut up already!" He said with a pissed smile, the corner of his mouth almost

twitching. Almost.

"You stay out of this!"

"This is between us!"

The two princesses shot at him with scowls on their faces.

Winston shook his head with a resigned sigh. For a moment, he even felt like knocking them out after casting freeze on them, or making them fall repeatedly by casting Tumble over and

over again.

But he decided against it. Infighting was something he wanted to avoid in a test.

Though the offer was always tempting.

"Winston! Any updates?" Khun's voice came from the floating pocket near him.

"Why did I have to be with these two idiots? Shibisu would have been much better company." He said with a hushed tone, not wanting to alarm the two princesses and have them shouting at him. He didn't think he would lose in a battle of provocation. As he said, he didn't wish to

engage in a fight as of now.

"Well, it can't be helped. If the bull appears, you guys would be the only wall between the

Dolphins and it." He said.

Winston shook his head.

"It would've made sense to spread us out more and have us operate individually. With our speeds, if anyone spotted the bull, we could've rushed there on the moment's notice." He

sighed.

"We can't be underestimating the bull. It is an unknown variable and it can't be assumed that any of you wouldn't be injured by the time the other two get there. Besides, the greatest chance for the bull to appear is by the site where the dolphins dive into the wine glass. That's why you're all near that area." Khun explained.

Of course, Winston knew about that. He was just feeling wrong about being grouped with the

princesses.

He didn't know why, but he just did.

Heh. Is it my intuition warning me? He joked.

"Whatever." He said.

Khun went quiet for a moment before his voice boomed from the pocket.

"Everyone! Bull spotted! It's near Shibisu's position! Head there immediately!" Khun yelled.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Winston's expression, along with that of the princesses' immediately turned serious as they all collectively began to rush in a direction.

Their footsteps echoed in the moderately dark cave.

"It's so beautiful... it feels as if we've really become fishes." Rachel droned as she looked on towards the waters in which schools of fishes floated. Hundreds of fishes shone with a strange gleam in the shinsu, meakint then appear like magical lights in the dark water. Rachel sat with her back supported by the frame of a bed. She laid there, unmoving, her legs

enveloped by the bed sheets. Bam stood behind the bed frame, silently looking on towards the water. His eyes were unfocused, seemingly lost in thought.

Ever since I came here... he thought. It feels... like a strange force is flowing into me.

He looked down and clenched his fist.

It feels... weird... He narrowed his eyes.

Just then, he heard Rachel gasp.

He turned back.

"What happened?" He asked.

Rachel pointed upwards towards the water surface, where strange movement seemed to be

happenings as holes drilled into the water.

"The... The thieves are moving!" Bam exclaimed.

It was a strange place. On a precipice stood a variety of people, one of them giant, one dwarf

and a boisterous looking young lady.

There were about 6 people in the group, all looked down from the precipice towards the abyss

it held.

"So.. I just have to jump from here to get into the regulars' testing area right?" The lady asked, her red eyes shining strangely.

"That's right." The sliver haired dwarf next to her scratched his head.

The lady looked back and said, "I recall telling you to lead the way, but I don't remember

saying I want to go to hell, Evan." She said distastefully.

The silver haired man, Evan, flailed his hands around.

"It's not my fault. This is the only way to get to the testing spot without getting caught. I

know it looks more like a cliff thought. But every other way we could have potentially gotten caught by Evankhell." He said.

"But didn't you previously say Evankhell wasn't on the test floor for the time being?" She

asked.

"That doesn't mean there are no observers. Being a ruler of a floor comes with it's perks."

Evan shrugged.

The lady nodded.

"Then I guess we have no choice but to go from here." She said. Suddenly, her eyes held a

mischievous glint.

Then, she kicked Evan in the back, throwing him off the precipice.

"You go first." She said offhandedly. "Aaaarrrghhh! You crazy princess!!!" He yelled as he disappeared into the abyss.

The other members of the team sweatdropped.

"Hmm? There wasn't a sound of him hitting the ground... The fall's quite deep." The lady

nodded.

A/N: Throw me dem stones.

Also, is Evankhell a male or female? I don't think it's ever been confirmed, or has it? I think Evankhell's referred to as being a female more often, so I'll just use that in the future.